Tom Nook will have a slingshot for sale in his shop that you can use to shoot down balloon presents, UFOs, and Pete the Pelican. The slingshot just shoots one stone, straight up into the air. It can be pretty tricky to shoot things down with the slingshot. However, it is possible to get a special golden slingshot, which shoots three stones: one goes straight up, like before, but the one on the left shoots up and at an angle to the left, while the one on the right shoots up and at an angle to the right. This expanding pattern covers more of the sky. Having the golden slingshot makes it much easier to shoot things down from the sky because your aim does not need to be nearly as accurate as it needs to be with the regular slingshot. Here is how to get the golden slingshot.
Shoot down sixteen balloon presents
To get the golden slingshot, you need to shoot down balloon presents. In fact, you need to shoot down a bunch of balloon presents: 16 in total. When you do that, the sixteenth present will be a golden toolbox with a yellow balloon. Shoot down the golden toolbox. When you pick it up and look at it in your pocket, you will see that it is the golden slingshot!
But what if I miss the golden slingshot?
If you miss the 16th present, also known as the golden slingshot, don't fret. The next present to go by will be a normal present, but the one after that will be another golden slingshot.
Slingshot techniques and tips
To shoot at items in the sky, your character needs to be in the north part of your town. If your character is too far south, the slingshot pellets will not be able to reach floating objects. Also, be sure not to shoot down balloon presents when you're standing near water, because the items will fall into the water and be lost. Also, since balloon presents and other items move across the sky, you should shoot the slingshot before the item passes over your head. The timing is more difficult if you are using the regular slingshot, so be sure to get the golden slingshot as soon as you can.
When do the balloon presents fly by?
The balloon presents can appear between 10AM and 3PM, and they will appear when the minutes on your town clock match the pattern XX:X3. So a present might fly by at 10:03, 12:33, or 2:43, for example. Be sure to run up to the north part of town to shoot it down. If you are too far south, your slingshot stone will miss!
It is not guaranteed that a balloon present will fly by at a XX:X3 minute. Having good Feng Shui might help make more balloons appear. If a balloon appears, it will be gone from the sky by XX:X5. Make sure you do not make the present land in water, because you will not have any way to recover it from the water!
How many times does a balloon present appear in the sky each day? Five times an hour, and six hours, equals thirty times per day.
What types of items will I get?
Balloon presents carry furniture inside. Every town in Animal Crossing: Wild World is assigned a letter: either A, B, or C. Each letter represents a selection of furniture that is most likely to appear in Tom Nook's store and from other sources, like trees, and neighbor gifts. Furniture not in that group is much less likely to appear in your town. However, balloon items are always going to be carrying furniture from a different furniture group from the group that was randomly assigned to your town! This means that shooting down balloon presents is a good way to get furniture items that are usually rare.